Dear Imam,

When are you planning to come to Malaysia? I would really like to meet you in person and listen to your talk.
Thanks in advance

Arif

Salam to my dear bro Muslim,

In Islam, when we did something wrong, telling lies, concoted stories which are proven to be totally wrong, we have to appologize to the person that we slander.

The ones who are reluctant or do not want to accept their mistakes might be, just might be ‘arrogant’. Not accusing you of anything though. Only you and Allah knows. Ask yourself; are you being arrogant?

Arrogant is a very dangerous attitude. This is the main difference between syaitan and the prophet Adam as. Both did something wrong; disobeying Allah. Adam repented and ask for foregiveness but syaitan, due to his arrogance refuses to do so. He feels that he is better than Adam as., he knows everything, etc….

Does syaitan believe in Allah? Yes, definitely. He even ask Allah to grant him longlife until qiamah. He know that only Allah can grant him the life he need for vengeance. Deep in his heart he harbour hatered towards sons of Adam.

So please be careful IF we have even a slight arrogance in our hearts.

I think an applogy to Bro Suhaib is due? Don’t you think so?

There is a distinct difference to be borne in mind, between a lay person telling an imam they’re going to be irrelevant, and another imam telling another the same thing. The former is likely to be as you said, picking on one thing and not appreciating the imam’s other good qualities. The latter is likely to be a colleague cautioning another and differing on the approach he’s taking. An undergrad telling his professor the theory is dumb, is different from a professor telling his colleague that the theory is flawed.

With all due respect what happened to you Imam Suhaib. You had a beautiful sunnah beard before and then you chopped it off, making it ‘American friendly’. You used to give advice how to give up music and now you’re clutching at straws to make it ‘permissible’. Why all this bending over backwards to appease a western audience? And worst of all why drag Al-Azhars name to try and back up all your liberalist positions.

You probably won’t even publish this.

May Allah guide us all.

I am looking for a scholar who could talk to me through email. I have some questions about the concept of God.

I shall be very grateful!

A

the leaders in a society become relevant if they can relate with the people of the society.

If the imam’s cannot connect with the community and stay in Ivory towers then God help us all.

As,

Duts, thank you for taking the time to answer. However, as you know, al-Bayina ‘ala al-Mud’ai wa labu an takuna bi al-tafsil.

Perhaps, and this is from one of the basic principles of discussing a person’s ideas, you should set this discussion up by following the correct method. A method taught in al-Azhar for over 900 years up until the late 80’s. That is, when offering naqd upon a person’s ideas, it should be done with tafsil, not attributing it to people or even madhabs. I would say that most of my understanding comes from Dr. Muhammad Wissam the wakil of ifta at Dar al-Ifta who I worked and read usul with, Dr. ‘Amir Wardani and Dr. ‘Ali Goma who granted me the ijaza in ifta and the six books of hadith after finishing my work and studies there.

I was also lucky to read with over 30 mayshaikh in Egypt, a good number who granted me qualified ijazas as well. I would add that I was also able to discuss many issues with Dr. Muhammad Rafat ‘Uthman, one of the senior faqihs in the country who sits on the majm’a al-bahoth for ifta, and Dr. S’ad Hilali as well as Dr. ‘Imad Ifat. I do not agree with Dr. Qaradawi on many issues, and feel much more comfortable with what I learned from my teachers listed above and others who I studied with in the past. Certainly, Sh. Ahmed Nidiya of Senegal, who I accompanied for 10 years and memorized the Qur’an with had a major impact on me. I feel comfortable in my approach because it was based on my discussions in the past, and until this day, with senior scholars and teachers in different countries and institutions.

I appreciate your advice and hope to benefit from it. I’m sure your concerns are sincere and ask you to keep us in your prayers.

Suhaib